Wonderful
by Nerwen Faelvirin
Summary: A responce to a challenge by Mystic Winds. A Hogwarts romance between our two favourite characters, Draco and Ginny. (PG just in case) Pls Read and Review!
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This is a response to the challenge that was sent out by Mystic Winds from the story The Wrong Guy. The challenge was as follows:

_A one-shot or a short story romance involving the following shippers: Draco/Ginny, Hermione/Ron, Harry/Luna or Hermione/Bill._

_Must involve one of these if not all: Mistletoe, prefects' bathroom, Great Hall, The Burrow, or school grounds during any time of the year._

_Ratings: PG or PG-13_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the things from the Harry Potter universe. Neither do I own No Doubt and Iced Earth but I think they're the best bands in the world.

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Ginny lay under the tree to cool off from the summer heat. She could hear her brother and his friends laughing and joking, like there wasn't a care in the world. Ginny inhaled the scent of wild flowers from the nearby meadow and closed her eyes, as she thought about the Leaving Feast before the summer holidays.

Dumbledore had announced to the school that Voldermort had died, sparing Harry the trouble of killing him. It seemed that his remaining Death Eaters, that had managed to stay out of Azkaban, were completely incompetent. They had failed to inform him of the Auror raid that was planned, causing him to choke on his dinner when they stormed into his lair. It was reported that after turning blue in the face and gasping for air, old Voldie fell face first into his lamb chop, dead. 

Once the announcement was made, the Slytherin table erupted into cheers as the rest of the students were still processing what the Headmaster had said. The image of Draco Malfoy, the cool, composed Slytherin hottie, dancing a jig on the table with Blaise Zabini, the other cool, composed Slytherin hottie, was never going to be forgotten by anyone that was present that day. Seeing all the Slytherins cheering at the Death of their so-called Lord made the rest of the Houses reassess their assumptions about the Slytherins. 

_That was one weird Leaving Feast_, she thought. _Well, at least that evil man is no longer around to try to kill Harry. He deserves to have some peace in his life after all he's been through_. Ginny's reminiscence was interrupted by her mother's calling for them to come in.

"Ginny! Ron! Harry! Hermione! Your Hogwarts letters have arrived!" called her mother from the kitchen.

The four of them got up from their various spots around the backyard and went back into the house. They filed into the living room and picked up the envelopes that were addresses to them. Ginny tore open hers, read her O.W.L.S results, and screamed.

"OH MY GOD! Mum! Mum! Look at this!" she screamed as she hopped up and down with excitement. She showed her mother the results and soon her mother was also screaming and jumping up and down, hugging Ginny.

"What's wrong Mum? Why are you so happy?" Ron asked extremely perplexed at the sight if his mother and sister hugging and jumping each other.

Once the two Weasley women had clamed down, Ginny showed Ron, Harry and Hermione her results and explained, "Dumbledore had enclosed a letter along with my OWLS results saying that since I did so well for the exams, they're allowing me to go straight to 7th year and graduate a year early."

"Ginny, that's wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed, giving Ginny a hug.

"I'm going to cook something special and we're going to celebrate tonight. Oh my goodness, I have to floo your father to make sure he comes home early," Mrs Weasley said, bustling towards the fireplace to floo her husband.

"I'm so proud of you! I always knew you were brilliant, "Ron said, hugging Ginny very tightly.

"That's good to know Ron but can you loosen your grip a little. I can't breathe," she said.

"Oops sorry Gin. Did I mention that I'm proud of you?"

"Yes Ron, you did. Thank you. I'm proud of you too. I'm going outside to sit under the apple tree and read. You want to join me?"

"Nah, I've had enough sun for the day. I'm just going to stay in the house."

"How about you Harry?"

"I'm with Ron. I was thinking if I could beat your brother at chess this time," Harry said, smirking at Ron.

"I'll definitely beat you anyway but you're on mate," Ron said before rushing upstairs to get his chess set. 

Ginny shook her head at them and went back out with her book. She sat back down under the apple tree and rested her back against the trunk. After reading a few pages of J.R.R Tolkein's _The Silmarillion_, Ginny could feel her eyelids getting heavier. The slight breeze was also making her sleepy. She placed her book on her tummy and closed her eyes, taking a short nap.

She was having a very nice dream about a tall, cute, blonde haired elf from Mirkwood forest when she was rudely shaken awake.

"Go away! Me and Legolas happy," she groaned, trying to swipe the hands away.

"Ginny wake up! Mum says it's time for dinner!" Ron said, shaking her even more. Seeing that Ginny refused to be woken up, Ron took the water hose and turned on the tap, spraying his sister with the cool water.

"Argh! What did you do that for?!" Ginny shouted at him, pushing her sopping hair away from her face.

"You didn't want to wake up and kept mumbling about someone called Legolas. Is he your new boyfriend? Where did you meet him?"

"Ron, Legolas is a character in a book. He's not real."

"Oh." Ron turned back to the house and was walking away, when he stopped and turned around. "Mum says that dinner will be ready in a bit. I suggest that you clean up before mum comes looking for you. You're a mess." With that, Ron laughed and ran back into the house before his sister could hex him.

"It's all your fault! Wait till I get my hands on you!" Ginny got up and shook the excess water from her hair. Fortunately, Ron had not gotten the book wet or that would have meant his death. Ginny stomped back to the house while mumbling about stupid, idiotic, irritating brothers under her breath.

~

The next day, Mrs Weasley brought Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. After making a stop at the bank, they proceeded to Flourish & Blotts to get their schoolbooks followed by Madame Malkin's for their school robes. After the downfall of Voldermort, Mr Weasley was promoted to the Minister of Muggle and Wizard Relations and the Weasley family were no longer poor, having more than enough money for Ginny and Ron's schooling.

 Mrs Weasley then gave Ginny and Ron some money before telling the kids to meet up at the Leaky Cauldron in three hours. The four of them split up with Ron, Harry and Hermione going off together to the Quidditch supply shop while Ginny went off to the CD store that sold mostly Muggle music at the far end of Diagon Alley.

Ginny never failed to visit the shop during her summer breaks to get her supply of CDs for the whole school year. Harry, Hermione and Ron had given Ginny a CD player for her 15th birthday. They had charmed it to work within Hogwarts and she was always listening to it, especially when she was doing her homework or studying.

Ginny entered the store and grabbed a basket before moving straight to the new releases. She grabbed No Doubt's best of album and scanned through the rest of the titles. Not finding anything else that interested her, she moved to the Heavy Metal section. She left the Heavy Metal section with her basket almost half-full and moved to the sound track section where she filled up her basket with more CDs. After making sure that she had enough to last her to at least Christmas, she went to pay for her items. 

She was too absorbed in looking through the purchases that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She walked right into someone, sending both of them falling on the bottoms. Her paper bag fell, spilling her CDs all over the pavement.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I'm so sorry," she said, feeling very embarrassed.

"It's alright. Neither was I. Here, let me help you," said the other person.

Both of them were on all fours picking up all her CDs. As he handed her the last CD, he asked, "So you like heavy metal huh?"

"Yeah. I like it but my mom doesn't. She keeps complaining that I put it on too loud."

"But if it's not loud, what's the point?"

"Exactly! Finally, someone who understands….." her voice trailed when she looked up and found Draco Malfoy smiling at her. 

"Understands……what?" he asked.

"Me," she squeaked. "Th-thank you f-for helping me. Sorry for knocking you down."

"It's alright. The Iced Earth album, _Alive in Athens_, is a good choice. I like their stuff," he said.

"Me too," was all she could say, staring at him. _Why is he being so nice to me?_ She asked herself.

"I think your brother is looking for you," Draco said, pointing over to Ron who was calling for her.

"I've got to go. So…. See you in school?"

"Yeah, see you in school."

Ginny turned and walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, still can't believe that Draco Malfoy could was being nice to her. No insults, no disparaging comments. Just, nice.

Draco shook his head as he watched her walk away. _She's cute_, he thought to himself before he turned and walked into the music store.

A/N: I hope that was ok. I know this chapter is kind of lame but I promise that it WILL get better. Oh and the CD titles are real. Please read and review. Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Wonderful chapter 2******

The summer holidays passed quickly and soon it was time to go to board the train at Platform 9 ¾. Mr Weasley, along with Mrs Weasley, drove Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny to the train station and they arrived fifteen minutes early. After placing their trunks in the luggage car, Ginny went in search for an empty compartment, not wanting to sit her brother and his friends. She did not want to see Ron and Hermione kissing every other minute. Since Harry started going out with Susan Bones just before Christmas, it got much worse as she had to put up with two couples sucking face throughout the train ride.

Having found an empty compartment, Ginny placed her neatly folded robes on the shelf above her head and sat down to look out the window. She was dressed in her school skirt, shirt and her house tie hung loosely around her neck. She rummaged though her book bag and took out her CD player. After checking that there was a CD in it, she switched it on and leaned back, enjoying the heavy beats of the songs. Just then, the door of the compartment opened, and Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini stepped in. The three teenagers stared at each other in silence for a few minutes when Draco spoke up.

"Weasley, do you mind if you sit here?" he asked.

"No, go ahead," Ginny said, motioning to the seats opposite her.

The two boys sat down opposite her and stretched their long legs in front of them. Ginny ignored the presence of the two Slytherins and closed her eyes but kept her hand close to her wand for precaution. She must have dozed off as the next thing she knew; someone shook her awake and pulled her left earphone roughly.

"What?!" she growled, grumpy from having her nap interrupted. 

"Do you want anything from the snack trolley Weasley?" she heard a voice that she identified as Malfoy.

She opened her eyes, blinked away the rest of her sleepiness and saw that the snack trolley had stopped at their compartment. The lady smiled kindly at her and pointed to the selection of chocolate and sweets on the trolley. She got a few handfuls of Chocolate Frogs and a large packet of Every Flavour Beans. After eating five chocolate frogs, she looked up and found the two Slytherin guys staring at her.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, both annoyed and puzzled.

"You. How can you eat so much chocolate and not feel sick?" Draco asked.

"I just love chocolate," she said and shrugged nonchalantly. She offered the boys her opened box of beans and watched them inspect the beans carefully before popping it into their mouths.

"So, what are you listening to?" Blaise asked.

"Iron Maiden, why?" 

"Was just curious because when Draco pulled off your earphones, I could hear the drumbeats all the way here," Blaise said. "Do you always listen to music with the volume that high?"

"It's heavy metal. If it's not loud …."

"What's the point," Draco finished for her, remembering their meeting at Diagon Alley.

Ginny smiled at him, remembering the incident too. "You're right. The Iced Earth live album is great," she said.

"I know. I have their whole discography."

"Really?! Do you have it here with you? Can I see it?" Ginny asked excitedly. She was a very big fan of Iced Earth but she didn't have all the albums since the music store doesn't always have it in stock. 

Draco opened his bag, pulled out a rather thick and large CD carrier, and passed it to her. Ginny was like a kid in a candy store, getting excited over the different CDs that he had. She passed the carrier back to him, pulled out her own CD carrier, and showed it to him. For the rest of the journey, Ginny and Draco discussed the different bands and the different genres of music they listened. Ginny found out that after his father's death in the war, Draco had turned to music to deal with his grief. Even though his father was a Deatheater and wasn't much of a father to him, Draco still loved him and mourned his death. He had stumbled upon the music store at Diagon Alley and instantly fell in love with CDs and heavy metal.

Before they knew it, the train had pulled into Hogsmeade station. They packed up their stuff and alighted. As Ginny was about to go off in search for her brother, she felt Draco hold onto her wrist. She turned around in surprise and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Hey Weasley, do you think we could exchange CDs sometime?" he asked, looking a bit uncertain and his eyes were unreadable.

Ginny smiled at him and said, "Sure. I'd like that."

Draco smiled back and let go of her wrist. He watched her weave through the throng of students and walked up to her brother and his friends. Just before she boarded the carriage, he saw her turn back in his direction and gave him a dazzling smile. He felt Blaise elbow in the ribs and he turned to his best friend with a scowl on his face.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"The carriages are leaving with out us if you don't hurry. You can ogle at her later in the Hall," Blaise said, dragging Draco by the arm to the last carriage.

"I wasn't ogling at her. I was just seeing if she made her away safely to her brother," Draco mumbled.

"Whatever," Blaise answered.

In the Great Hall, Ron sat down beside Ginny and started bombarding her with questions.

"Where were you Ginny? I looked around and I couldn't find you on the train," he asked, with a worried look on his face.

"I was in the last compartment Ron," she said. _That is if you actually really bothered to look for me_, she added silently.

"How come you didn't seat with us?" Ron asked, motioning to Harry and Hermione.

"And see all of you make out? No, thank you. I'd rather sit by my lonesome and listen to my music. Now shut up, I want to see the Sorting."

The Sorting was over quickly and after the required speech by Dumbledore, the Feast began and everyone tucked into the food with gusto. When the Feast ended, the House prefects led all the students back to their dormitories. Ginny smiled to herself as she lay down to sleep that night when she thought back about the discussion that she and Draco had on the train_. __Malfoy's not so bad when he wants to be. If only he'd stop being such a prat.___

~          *           ~

The first day of the lessons went smoothly and Ginny was adapting very well to her new classes. The last lesson of the day was N.E.W.T level Potions with the Slytherins. Ginny settled herself at Harry, Ron and Hermione's table as they waited for the rest of the class and Professor Snape to come in. The first order of business that Snape did was to pair a Slytherin with a Gryffindor. Ron, Harry and Hermione had Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson as partners, respectively. Ginny was paired with, who else but Draco Malfoy.

"Weasley, you do know that this is a 7th year class right?" he asked as he sat down beside her.

"I know that Malfoy. The professors pushed me up to 7th year since I did so well for my O.W.L.S." She gave him a smug look before turning to face the board. Ron, who was sitting at the table in front of her, kept turning back every ten minutes and shooting death glares at Draco, to make sure that his sister was all right.

"Ron, I'm fine. I can take care of myself," she whispered at him, not wanting to give Snape reason to give Ron a detention on the very first day of school. "Turn around and concentrate on your potion."

"If they pushed you up a level, how come they didn't do the same for Granger?" Draco whispered to her, once Ron had stopped turning back to give him death glares.

"They tried to in her third year but she turned it down. She said there wouldn't be anyone to keep the boys in line if she was pushed up a few levels," she answered back, while taking notes from the board.

"Huh," was all he said.

The rest of the lesson went quickly for them. They worked very well together; with Draco cutting the potion ingredients into the required size while Ginny weighing out the required ingredients. When the lesson ended, they bottled the psychedelic coloured potion into the bottles provided and placed it on Snape's desk as they left the classroom. As she was about to join her brother and his friends, who were waiting for her, Draco held her wrist for the second time that week to prevent her from leaving. She turned to face him and raised her right eyebrow.

"Hey Weasley, you're not bad in potions as I thought." he said, smirking slightly. "For a Gryffindor."

"You're not too bad yourself," she quipped back. "For a Slytherin."

"Well, see you around Weasley," he said, winking at her as he left.

Ginny stood rooted to the ground, gaping and staring at the Draco receding back. _He didn't just wink at me, did he? He has a nice butt. Wait, did I just check his butt out? Oh my God, I just did! __O__k, __I have__ to stop it__ looking at his behind but what a sexy behind__ it was._ Ginny sighed mentally, turned around and made her way to where he brother and his friends were standing. As she got closer, she saw that her brother's face was red and only Hermione's presence was preventing him from flying of the handle.

"What did that filthy Slytherin Ferret want!" he shouted, nearly blowing out her eardrums in the process. "Did he do anything? Do you want me to pound the snot of him? I would be more than happy to do it."

"Ron, he didn't do anything to me. Please calm down. I don't want mum to send a howler on the first week of school because you got detention or worse, suspended, for beating up a student. He just said that I wasn't bad at potion as he thought. That's all he said," Ginny said softly, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I'm worried about you. I don't want that Slytherin Ferret to hurt you," he said softly, slinging a hand around her shoulder as the four of them made their way back to the Gryffindor tower.

"Don't worry Ron. I know how to take care of myself."

"Ok but you'll tell me if he tries anything right?"

"Of course, dear brother." Ginny kissed her brother's cheek lightly before going up to her dorm room to wash up before dinner.

~          *           ~

Dinner was the same as always. Ron gulped down enough food for four people Harry was busy making lovey-dovey eyes at Susan and Hermione was eating and reading at the same time. Ginny was happily eating her food while listening to her sixth friends, telling her about their first day back at school.  Unknown to her, a certain blonde male from the Slytherin table, was watching her every move.

Draco watched as Ginny laughed at something Colin Creevey said. Over the past few years, Draco had watched the youngest Weasley blossom from a shy little girl into a pretty, young woman. She wasn't pretty in the classic sense but there was something about her that was unforgettable and breathtaking. Ever since she bumped into him at Diagon Alley, he couldn't get her out of his mind. More than once, he had contemplated sending her an owl to get to know her better but he didn't know how she was going to react to that. He looked at her laughing again and sighed, spearing his potatoes with his fork. He stared at the way her hair fell over her shoulders when she tilted her head back as she laughed, wishing that he could run his fingers through them.

"If you stared at her any harder, you might burn a hole through her," Draco heard Blaise comment beside him.

"I'm not staring at her," he mumbled, as he blushed ever so slightly, giving away his embarrassment. 

"What ever. Just make sure that her brother doesn't catch you staring at her like that or you might end up at the hospital wing," Blaise advised. Draco just grunted noncommittally and carried on eating his dinner.

A few minutes later, the tables cleared of all dishes and food, and all the students stood up to make their way back to their common rooms. Ginny had looked up from her table and found Draco smiling at her. She shyly smiled back and she blushed furiously when he winked at her. She smiled all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. As she was brushing her hair while getting ready for bed, she couldn't help but think, _it's been a very weird day,__a__ day where Draco __Malfoy smiled and winked at me, Ginny Weasley__. What is the world coming to? What'll he do next, kiss me and declare his undying fro me. That has as much chance as a snowball in hell. ___

Ginny shook her head at that thought and got into bed. _I __ju__st hope that __tomorrow won't be as weird as today_, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
